Vauxhall Motors - Season 2022/2023
The Motormens return to the
Vanarama North after an eight year absense was a success story in itself but that was the
Vauxhall of old, the new
Vauxhall had greater plans. Far from waving goodbye to the division due to financial issues, the new
Vauxhall wanted to wave goodbye by going up and that's what the summer was geared towards as once again changes were made to the playing staff. It was the only way to keep progressing.
It also had a habit of paying off and the clubs return to the 6th level of English football was no different.
Kareem Richardson, Jasper Dowse, Shaun Baker and
Sam Latham were just some of the names snapped up after
Premier League clubs deemed them surplus. I intend to do a Where Are They Now post next so I won't go too much into detail with players.
Another league title. Another promotion.
The
FA Cup was once again kind to us as we qualified for the 1st round proper after defeating
Chipstead (2-0),
Lancaster (3-0) and
Farnborough (1-0). The reward was an away tie to
MK Dons, a tie that ended 2-1 to the visitors.
Harrogate followed, a 0-0 saw a replay at
The Riveracre, this time an eas 4-1 occured. 3rd round saw
Barnsley arrive and dispatched in exactly the same manner as
Harrogate. 4-1. Fourth round. A big team. A
Man City. A
Man United. A
Tottenham. No. We drew fucking
Hartlepool. Mixed feelings at that stage. You know if you go out then it's a wasted run but win then the odds of getting a pay day go up. Thankfully we won, 3-1 again at
The Riveracre, our fortress.
It was clear by this point that we were no
Vanarama North team. We had the results to prove it.
Man United were drawn in the 5th round. At
Old Trafford as well.
Jahmal Hector-Ingram gave us the lead,
Rashford restored parity before
Isco put United in control.
Ben Whitehead was having none of it and swiftly made it 2-2 after the restart. We just weren't good enough though.
Rashford blitzed past the backline and
Lingard made it four in stoppage time.
We did make it to
Wembley though as our performances in the
FA Trophy. Twelve games to get there though after replays were required all the way through.
Vauxhall Motors - Season 2023/2024
It was no different to the North in reality. We also retained the
FA Trophy. Impressively that was our fourth
Wembley appearance in six years.
Bolton knocked us out of the
FA Cup 2nd round. Unexpected but probably helped in the long run not to have to play catch up wit
Vauxhall Motors - Season 2024/2025
With records being posted left, right and centre at the club over the last couple of seasons and the general atmosphere at the club being a positive one, we went into our
League Two campaign under no illusions that we were one of the better teams, one of the more stable clubs and one of the most ambitious. We weren't about to wait around and our long term goals were on a different planet to most in our division. As it was though, we had to compete and in doing so we ensured another league title, another promotion and as with every season prior, a new record for most points. We were rampant.
We got to play in the
EFL Cup for the first time but reached only as far as the 3rd round.
Swansea knocking us out on penalties whilst the
FA Cup saw a 2-0 defeat away to
Leicester. It was nice to not have to start in the qualifying rounds. Probably not so nice for
Gateshead, Aldershot and
Portsmouth who we had knocked out on our way to the 4th round.
Vauxhall Motors - Season 2025/2026
It was a all a bit deja vu. Another league title. Another record breaking season, in fact. It was also the season a number of youngsters came of age. (More to come) First team football last season had clearly been a huge factor and it bode very well for the future.
We were now forming a solid squad, a stable squad and the ease in which strutted our stuff on a weekly basis was impressive.
The
EFL Cup lasted less than a match as
Leeds United ended our involvement before it had really begun and another
FA Cup run ensured our healthy financial state continued to improve as
Dorchester, Mansfield and
Bromley were eliminated en route to the fourth round. A 1-1 draw at home to
Sheffield Wednesday meant the winner of the replay would face
Liverpool in the 5th. That winner was us as we went on to win 3-0.
The beginning of March saw
Liverpool arrive for an evening kick off. By time the match kicked off at 7.45pm the ground was jumping. 7.46pm and we were 1-0 to the good and in dreamland. 7.47pm. 2-0.
Joe Elliott-Webster's very early brace took the non-existant roof of the place.
Diogo Jota pulled one back on the 15"minute mark but it took until the 78th for Liverpool to pull level, the Egyptian King doing his bit. It sucked all the more as it arrived just three minutes after
Webster missed a penalty, a chance for his hattrick.
Radic grabbed
Liverpool's third with ten minutes to go and our hopes had been vanquished.
Vauxhall Motors - Season 2026/2027
After eight successive league titles, we went into the
Championship season spending money that once upon a time woiuld have safeguarded our future for decades as nearly £10M was spent strengthening the side. It worked. As expected. Number 9 was wrapped up solidly. The
EFL Cup saw a run to the semi finals,
Tottenham's 2-0 first leg win being enough to ensure our 3-2 win in the 2nd wasn't enough. We did however stick
Man United out on penalties in the previous round. We also owed a lot to them as loanee
Julio Cesar Ochoa proved to be our start of the season. The
FA Cup proved a disappointment despite getting to the quarter finals for the first time.
Everton knocking us out in the shittest manner possible.
And that's where we're at.
The Premier League is up and coming, we've got about 6/7 spaces in the squad to fill but now it's time to slow the game right down and build. Absolutely enjoying it though even it's piss easy and now I've removed all the lower leagues the speed has picked up.